ElBrunzy wrote:My understanding is that you cannot program the soundfont on the waveblaster, am I right?
In real DOS, when the AWE's Windows 9X MPU-emulation driver is not running: the AWE is not able to program a soundfont either*. In that case one is limited to the mediocre 1MB ROM set of the AWE cards. That is if the AWEUTIL is compatible with the game, or if the game has build-in AWE drivers, otherwise it is back to FM.
A Card with proper unbuggy MPU-401 interface and a fixed hardware GM synth like a Roland/Yamaha/Korg, ensures you have good midi music in any situation.
The AWE EMU8000 Synth is actually not suitable for real DOS. It is suited to early Windows systems, those that do not have the CPU Power to do Soundfont Midi in software.
*(Besides some experiments with AWEUTIL and certain SBK files)